Chapter 344 344 – Paladin’s Loved One
"… What is this title?" I asked her as I felt my face burning slightly.
What the heck?
There existed a title like that? This was a bit embarrassing even for me.
I never appraised my girls again after I got to know them to respect their privacy. So I would never expect those whom I love would get this title.
I meant… Eliza got [Paladin's Woman] title, not [Paladin's Loved One]. What was the difference?
This roused my curiosity and made me want to look at its description. However…
"W-Wait, don't look at its description!"
… Tristan desperately stopped me by turning around and grabbing my shoulders. Panic was clear on her face as her smile looked a bit strange.
"Just don't look at the description, alright?"
If she went this far, something embarrassing that she didn't want me to know must be written in the description. It even made her stand up even when feeling down.
"Alright, alright." I raised my hands and pushed her away slightly. "I won't look."
After I said that, Tristan heaved a relieved sigh. Her expression softened slightly as if a heavy load was lifted from her shoulders.
'I can always appraise Eliza. She won't notice that I use <Appraisal> and probably has this title, too, if my guess is correct.'
Anyway, I shouldn't upset Tristan too much in her current mood. Was there anything that could make her happy again? I certainly wanted her to feel better before tomorrow so she could enjoy herself too.
Then, I had an idea.
"Tristan, you want to go somewhere with me?"
"Where?" She asked curiously; her voice turned back to normal. She sat in front of me, looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes to hide her embarrassment.
"Somewhere you will like." I grinned at her, "But first… Change your clothes."
***
I was walking down the Capital City road, dressed in long black pants and a white shirt with a silver pendant hanging on my neck. I also wore sunglasses, a magic item with <Stealth> effect so ordinary people couldn't see me. Beside me was Tristan.
Just as I instructed her earlier, she changed her clothes after hiding behind the tree. The words 'somewhere you will like' was something she used to make me curious earlier, so she couldn't just say no to this invitation when I accepted hers.
She changed into a black halter-neck shirt with a beige skirt. Under her skirt were black shorts in case the wind uplifted it. Hanging on her neck was a similar silver pendant with the name 'Tristan' written on it, and she wore a silver bracelet on her left hand, which held mine.
"Why would we go to the Capital City?" She complained. But her lips curled into a smile, clearly happy because she realized it was a date with only two of us.
"I just suddenly want to go on a date with you. Is it bothering you?"
"No, but… I have a patrol in an hour."
"Don't worry about it. Also, isn't my knight squad exempted from that? Don't lie to me."
"Ugh… But we have a schedule to thin the monsters outside Academy City!" Tristan immediately made an excuse with a nod. "I am needed in the extermination as a scout."
"Without you being there, Lea will be able to learn how to scout, so there will be no problem. Do you have any more excuses?" I smirked at her, holding her hand slightly tighter so she wouldn't run away.
She heaved a sigh, "No… But, really. Why are we here? We can just have a date in Academy City."
"I don't want to bump into anyone else when we are on a date." I shrugged my shoulders, "Look, just follow me, okay? Sometimes, I want to spend my time alone with you too."
"Idiot…" Tristan muttered as her cheek was dyed red. I could feel the heat transferred through her hand as she squeezed tighter. "Fine, we will go your way."
"Great." I exclaimed with a smile, "So first… There is this opera in the Capital City. What do you think if we go and watch it?"
"Opera?"
"Yes. It's about how the two Goddesses created this world." I nodded at her.
'That means it's just a play and not the real history. As it's not two Goddesses but the Goddess of Lust, Lilith, that created and received people's prayers.' I added in my mind.
That was why I thought it would be interesting. I remembered there was something like an opera house in the game and confirmed its existence when I stood over the balcony to deliver the speech yesterday.
It would be good to know how people perceived the creation of this world directly from other people, not based on my untrustworthy memories.
"Seems interesting. I have never visited an opera before."
"Then, it's decided. The opera is located just around the corner."
We arrived at the opera building shortly after. It was big, and many people dressed and visited with their couple or family dressed quite nicely. However, because this one was located in the commoner district, no Nobles visited, and the entry was rather cheap, only 25 Gold each person.
In this world where entertainment was limited, this opera became the favorite place for people. There was another one in the Noble district with better actors and a variety of plays, but right now, I wanted the classic about how the Goddesses created this world.
Actors began to enter one by one; two were dressed as the Goddesses. They were beautiful women with blue and purple hair, respectively, symbolizing purity from sky and water and lust.
For some reason, they were close to each other and competed to create which Kingdoms were better. The blue-haired Goddess, Teri, created the Virtue Kingdoms and the people in it. And the purple-haired Goddess, Tera, created Succubi and the Sin Kingdom.
The story continued as they created the sun, the moon, and forests, and then they ended the competition by creating the barrier between the two Kingdoms. At that moment, an anomaly happened, and darkness covered the barrier.
Both Goddesses didn't know what had happened and were confused. When the barrier returned to normal, the area inside the barrier had already turned into a wasteland that trapped the souls of people.
I looked at Tristan and was surprised that she enjoyed and concentrated on the play. My smile widened, and the play was done after 30 minutes. That was truly good, and I could match it with my knowledge.
We left the opera building by holding hands again.
"Did you enjoy it?" I asked.
"That was unexpectedly good. It's been a long time since I went to something like a play or a movie, so yes. I enjoyed it, thank you." She smiled wonderfully at me. Her mood definitely improved after that.
"I am glad if that's the case." I smiled back at her. "Let's get to the next spot, then. We will have fun until next week."
I intentionally said week even though there was no concept of the week in this world to relay what I meant to Tristan. Her face flushed as red as a tomato.
"Pervert." She said in a low voice and averted her face away.
"You are in love and loved by that pervert," I answered her back casually.
We began to walk again after Tristan calmed down. Our next destination was near the center of the Capital City, and it would be a big surprise for this cute girlfriend of mine.